Chapter 442: Billion-dollar Box Office Gamble

The crew of "The Wandering Earth".

The crew, which had been filming for more than two weeks, had basically passed the running-in period. Looking at the increasingly skilled staff, Gu Wei's worries were slowly dissipating.

But what followed was the actors’ lack of support.

The reason is that most of the shots in this science fiction blockbuster require post-production special effects synthesis.

In special effects production, the actor's "out of thin air" performance, the dynamic process of the performance and the expression, after being captured by the motion capture equipment, are digitized and stored in the computer, so that they can be transplanted to the corresponding virtual image in the later synthesis. This kind of action data can be used repeatedly.

When the actors are performing, a considerable portion of the shots will be performed without props. Veterans like Hu Jun, Zhou Xun, and some old actors are better off. Even if they have never experienced this kind of shooting before, they can still adapt and adjust quickly.

The most difficult ones are Han Dongjun and Yang Zi, especially Han Dongjun, who lacks acting experience and has been scolded by Gu Wei many times in the crew recently.

Online, "The Wandering Earth" has not yet been released, but some media have already reported him as a future top-tier Chinese actor, and quite a number of people have high expectations for him.

The huge amount of traffic made it difficult for Han Dongjun to adapt, so much so that any slight disturbance on the Internet would affect Han Dongjun's state.

During the more than half a month on the crew, Han Dongjun felt that he could not keep up with the pace. Whether in terms of mentality or acting skills, he could not compare with those old predecessors. The huge gap caused subtle changes in his heart.

"Sister Hua, can I really do this?"

Looking at Wang Jinghua in front of him, Han Dongjun couldn't help but ask questions.

"Of course you can. You were selected by Director Gu himself. Besides, it's a good thing that the director is strict. You have to turn pressure into motivation." Wang Jinghua comforted Han Dongjun when she saw him like this, while the assistant next to her remained silent.

To be honest, Wang Jinghua takes great care of Han Dongjun. When she learned that he got the second male lead role in "The Wandering Earth", Wang Jinghua began to train him as the most promising new star of the 18th Company.

There are two assistants, one responsible for work and the other for life.

Immediately afterwards, they spared no effort in promoting and building momentum for Han Dongjun. Of course, the effect was very good. Currently, Han Dongjun is no less popular than ordinary second-tier celebrity artists, and he has attracted a lot of attention and popularity.

In the crew, people come and go, each with their own busy work.

Han Dongjun sat in the rest area with red eyes, holding the script in his hand, and looking a little dazed.

Hearing Wang Jinghua's words, Han Dongjun nodded silently. To be honest, he had thought there would be pressure before, but he didn't expect to receive such high attention.

It has to be said that as one of the best agents in the country, Wang Jinghua is indeed unique in training and encouraging artists.

Han Dongjun's mentality was adjusted with just a few words. In the end, Han Dongjun was like a chicken with blood injected, and he was full of energy again.

So much so that when Han Dongjun re-shot the NG shot, even Gu Wei looked at him with admiration.

Hu Jun, Zhou Xun and others were also a little surprised.

"Xiao Han is great!"

The ancients said that one should look at a man with new eyes after three days of absence, but Han Dongjun adjusted his state too quickly.

Later, when Gu Wei learned that it was Wang Jinghua who had counseled him, he smiled slightly.

Gu Wei's training of new actors is somewhat different from Zhang Yimou's. He does not teach them step by step or serve as a model.

Instead, after the explanation is in place, more time will be spent letting the actors figure it out on their own. It's best if they can understand it, but if they can't, then I'm sorry. The thing that the circle lacks the least is actors, and there are plenty of people who want to be famous.

.........

China Film.

In the conference room.

Unlike the last time at the Film Bureau, there was a tense atmosphere between a large number of production companies and theater chains.

The atmosphere on site today is much better.

On one side are the management of Xingchen Film and Television Company and China Film Group, and on the other side are more than a dozen theater chain representatives.

On both sides of the long conference table, Gu Wei, Song Ge and others were sitting on one side, while the theater chain representatives represented by Ye Ning were sitting on the other side.

The purpose of our gathering today is naturally to discuss the tiered profit-sharing of "Titanic".

"Director Gu, this doesn't comply with the regulations. How can Titanic be considered a domestic film?"

The representative of the New Film Association Cinema Chain asked in doubt, and as soon as he finished speaking, many people nodded in agreement.

To be honest, if "Titanic" was divided according to the imported films, the box office share that the producer could get would be far lower than that of domestic films. It was only 13% before. Even if the agreement has been re-signed now, there is still a huge gap compared with the proportion of domestic films.

“Yes, Director Gu, if The Wandering Earth were released, we would definitely agree to a tiered profit-sharing plan, but not for this movie,” said the representative of the Southern Mainline Cinemas in a firm tone.

Ye Ning was very embarrassed at this moment. Everyone in the cinema chain knew about the relationship between Wanda and Xingchen Film and Television. It could be said that they were currently as close as if they were wearing the same pair of pants.

Therefore, in most cases, Ye Ning would not speak if he could, and simply acted as a tool.

"Can you all represent all the cinema chains?" Listening to the noisy speeches and questions from the cinema chain representatives, Gu Wei didn't waste any words and asked directly.

"can."

The representative of the Magic City United Cinema nodded, and the other cinema representatives also nodded in agreement. "Then I won't waste my words."

"Director Gu, please speak."

"Since New Picture's The Flowers of War received a tiered profit-sharing arrangement some time ago, I think I should be more qualified to receive it, including my other commercial films in the future. Do you all agree?"

"Director Gu, I say the same thing again. Of course, The Wandering Earth is fine. After all, it is a sci-fi blockbuster with an investment of 200 million US dollars. As for Director Gu's future movies, why don't we discuss it later?
But now suddenly there's Titanic, how do we account for this?"

The representative of Shanghai United Cinema Line still used the same rhetoric: domestically produced domestic films are fine and can be negotiated, but Hollywood films are not, and cannot be negotiated.

Hearing this, Gu Wei was somewhat speechless. "Let's not talk about The Wandering Earth for now. After all, there is still some time before it is released, and no one can predict what will happen in the meantime.

Everyone should know that the copyright and distribution rights of the remake of Titanic are in my hands. It cannot be simply regarded as an imported film. I think it is a domestic film produced by Xingchen Films and should be able to get a tiered share of the profits. "

Afterwards, Gu Wei showed everyone the relevant procedures, which were all complete.

Seeing this situation, the faces of the people on the opposite side all looked unhappy. No one expected that Gu Wei was so fully prepared.

"Even so, is Director Gu confident that a re-released movie will achieve high box office?"

"Yes, the audience has already seen it once. How many people will buy tickets to see it again?" said a person from the New Film Association.

Seeing this, Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "Then let's sign a bet agreement."

"What kind of bet is this?" Everyone was confused.

"Take the domestic box office of Titanic as an example. The box office is less than 41 billion yuan, and the film company gets 59% of the shareable box office revenue, which means that the theater chain can get % of the box office revenue.

If the box office exceeds 46 billion, the profits will be split in the ratio of 44% for the producer and % for the cinema chain.”

The theater representatives' eyes widened. More than 1 billion? There was still a difference of 5 percentage points in revenue, which was not small.

Do you really think that the remade 3D version of "Titanic" is as good as the 3D blockbusters "Avatar" and "2012"?

Some representatives of the theater chains even curled their lips in disdain. It seemed that the box office success of several consecutive movies had made the great director Gu Wei a little bit proud. They all felt that Gu Wei was too arrogant.

After all, Gu Wei's plan is a gamble, and a big one at that.

If the domestic box office of the 3D version of "Titanic" is less than billion, it will be lower than the normal share, and the theaters will be able to make a lot more money.

Only when the box office exceeds 1 billion will everyone follow the agreement.

Of course, all things considered, if the box office of "Titanic" can really exceed 1 billion, even if there is a difference of a few percentage points, the theaters will definitely make money, but the profit will not be that much. But in the final analysis, it is a win-win situation, and the theaters will never lose money.

However, there were indeed not many people who believed that "Titanic" could achieve a box office of over 1 billion. Even Han Sanping and Ye Ning frowned slightly, thinking that Gu Wei's decision was unwise.

During the intermission, Ye Ning secretly came to Gu Wei and asked with a worried look, "Director Gu, why don't we just forget it? According to this agreement, Xingchen Films will most likely suffer losses."

Hearing this, Gu Wei waved his hand to show that he had made up his mind.

Seeing this, Ye Ning stopped dissuading him, but patted his chest and said that he would schedule more screenings at that time. Gu Wei smiled and said nothing more.

On the other hand, representatives of the theater chain also decided to agree after discussion.

"Although the promotion of Titanic is very hot at present, I think it is impossible for it to earn a box office of up to 1 billion." This is the unanimous opinion of theater representatives.

After the break, the meeting continued.

"Director Gu, we discussed this gambling agreement and agreed to it."

Gu Wei knew that the possibility of success was relatively high, because in this gambling agreement, only he knew the final result, so he dared to decide to do so.

Including Song Ge and others, they didn't quite believe that a re-released movie could get a box office of over 1 billion.

After all, when "Titanic" was released fourteen years ago, it only earned more than 300 million at the box office. Even though more than ten years have passed and the purchasing power of money is different, the gap cannot be so big. This is also the main reason why the theater chain agreed to the bet.

That day, after the meeting.

The betting and profit-sharing agreement for "Titanic" was signed by Gu Wei and representatives of the theater chain.

In just one afternoon, the news of Gu Wei's bet with the cinema chain spread throughout the industry.

"Director Gu is not being wise this time. If it is really less than 1 billion, it will be a huge loss."

After Wang Changtian heard the news, he couldn't help but sigh.

"We only have some trailers and haven't seen the full 3D Titanic, so it's hard to draw conclusions now."

A filmmaker said.

"There's nothing wrong with jumping to conclusions. This movie definitely won't achieve such a high box office!"

It has to be said that this is also the consensus among filmmakers in the industry.

.........

(End of this chapter)